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Providing their only performance in southern California, the acclaimed international acts known as The Streets and Lady Sovereign brought their very unique brand of music to the Henry Fonda in Los Angeles California. Performing such hits as “Chi-Ching” and her upcoming USA single “Love me or Hate me,” Def Jam’s most anticipated artist, Lady Sovereign performance made it clear why Hip-Hop’s CEO was so anxious to sign the red hot Brit. Early into her set, Lady Sov stopped performing “Hoodie”, gripped her throat and exclaimed, “F*ck”. Fighting both a soar throat and sound issues, Lady Sov continued to focus on her fans and the quality of her performance. In fact, she went as far as to take responsibility for the sound issues by saying, “I can’t hear myself over the music. I apologize for this, but I want to give you guys a good show.” Allowing her World Cup enthusiasm to spill over, the pony-tailed Lady Sov's charisma on “Love me or Hate me” goes beyond her being a rapper from the U.K. with attitude. It is the type of uncontainable charisma that looks to dominate. From her sonic boom of a delivery on “Love me or Hate me” to her riotous spit on “Public Wanging”, she is an MC, an international artist, and a fire cracker of a performer. With the Lady of Def Jam getting the crowd live, it was time for The Streets. Mike Skinner recently said that their performances in the United States are a lot tamer than in the U.K. In fact, he went as far as to equate the U.K. performances with the Girls Gone Wild video series. While their set might not have been on the extreme licentious level of a Girls Gone Wild event, The Streets had the packed Henry Fonda jumping all night long. Staying in line with the track order of their most recent debut (The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living), The Streets got their set started with “Pranging out”. Looking to avoid being “blinded by the lights”, a shaded Mike Skinner requested the audience jump up and down furiously as soon as the drummer took a seat. This type of interaction with the audience shed a whole new light on the king of Grime. From pouring beer into cups and hurriedly asking: “Where’s the security?” to handing the cups out to the audience and chanting them on with a good ole “quick, drink, drink, drink”, Mike Skinner brought the party mentality of the U.K. to the states. Fans of his three albums (Original Pirate Material, A Grand Don’t Come For Free, The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living) are well aware of the very humorous side of Mike Skinner’s work, and as he with every other aspect of his show, he naturally steps up the humor as well. Following Mareceo‘s(vocalist/guitarist) own rendition of the Pussy Cat Dolls hit “Don’t Cha” (“Don’t you wish your boyfriend was a freak like me. Don’t you wish your boy friend would eat you like me”), Skinner advised him that “maybe you shouldn’t sing to girls with boyfriends. It’s not proper technique." Unable to avoid audience interaction, Mike went on to serenade the Artic Monkey’s “I bet you look good on the dance floor” to a few British girls in the front. Wanting to experience a little “Californiacation”, he asked the crowd, “Do people in LA crowd surf?” Pacing from one side of the stage to the next, Mike invited the girls to take a dive with him. When one lucky lady finally made her way to him, she started to dance, which jolted the following reaction from Mr. Skinner: “F*ck that sh*t. Are you reading to crowd surf?” The young girl and Mike's dive into the sea of hands is pretty representative of The Streets philosophy towards music making: create songs that plunge the listener right into action filled world of Mike Skinner rather than plant them in the shadows, forcing them to observe. From the heart wrenching “Dry Your Eyes” and “Never Went to Church” to “When You Wasn’t Famous” and the riotous “War of the sexes” that featured Mareco in boxing garb shadowing boxing, the brilliance of The Streets is being able to touch on all of these very real issues that make us all human while keeping a smile on our face and a spring in our step. Related Links: Two Nations United: Mike Skinner of The Streets - JIVE Magazine Interviews Mike Skinner
Lady Sovereign: Vertically Challenged - JIVE Magazine Feature http://www.the-streets.co.uk/ http://www.ladysovereign.com/ http://www.henryfondatheater.com/ | 
